WORK will start next year on a £20million series of road schemes intended to free up traffic and boost jobs in Dorset.

A new link road from the A338 Spur Road to Royal Bournemouth Hospital, more lanes at the Blackwater Junction and new Hurn roundabout are among the proposals.

Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is planning the works, which follow the rebuild of the A338 Spur Road and the work being done at Gravel Hill and around the port of Poole.

The schemes are intended to provide better access to Bournemouth Airport and unlock employment land at Aviation Business Park and at Bournemouth’s Wessex Fields.

They are part of £45.2m secured by the LEP through the Dorset Growth Deal for its economic growth plan, called the BIG Programme.

The main elements are:

* Improvements to the Spur Road’s Blackwater Junction, with better sliproads and extra approach lanes. Site clearance will start in October to allow detailed survey work, with main work starting in September 17.

* Moving the current Hurn Roundabout east of its current site, with Parley Lane and Avon Causeway re-aligned and the Matchams Lane junction moved. The work, intended to improve access to the airport and Aviation Business Park, will start in September 2017.

* A new road link from the A338 to Royal Bournemouth Hospital, across Wessex Fields, which could be released for employment land. Design and site investigation are being done now, with a provisional start date of spring 2019.

* Improvements on the B3073 at Chapel Gate and Parley Cross. Work is expected to take place from mid-2017 after being put on hold earlier this year for the design to be reviewed.

£3.3m plans to improve Chapel Gate are put on hold

But more than one of the schemes could be taking place at the same time.

That will mean more headaches for commuters but the LEP insists traffic modelling will be used to minimise disruptions.

Lorna Carver, director of the LEP, which delivered the rebuild of the A338  Spur Road, said the full schedule was being worked on.

Asked if more than one project could go ahead at once, she said: “It is possible. We’d hope to be able to provide a bit of reassurance that we currently have more than one transport scheme ongoing across Dorset – for example, Gravel Hill and Poole Bridge.

“While we appreciate there’s some short term pain, the whole point of doing proper modelling is it’s manageable. Doing any road work does cause people a bit of inconvenience but it will be worth it.

“We won’t do anything where the modelling would suggest that traffic flows would halt.”

The statement issued by the LEP yesterday said the work at Blackwater Junction and at Hurn Roundabout would start in September 2017, with the Chapel Gate and Parley Cross work in “mid-2017”. The hospital link road would not happen until 2019.

“It certainly isn’t the intention to stop traffic flows. There may be some delays but they would be worked out so even if things were happening concurrently it would be for good reason,” Ms Carver added.

Gordon Page, chairman of Dorset LEP, said: “The BIG Programme’s latest infrastructure investments tackle key pinch points on the A338 and B3073 which will improve journeys to Bournemouth Airport and Wessex Fields and help create up to 10,000 jobs over the next 10 years.

“Alongside the major works around the Port of Poole, these infrastructure investments are essential and long overdue – existing key link roads and transport networks are congested, inadequate and suppressing growth.

“Dorset LEP has a window of opportunity to access central government funds to address infrastructure problems, in partnership with our local authorities, to not only fix near-term issues but also to secure reasonable connectivity to cater for planned future economic growth in the area.

“It is reassuring to see that plans for the BIG Programme’s next phase of transport improvement projects are well under way. Our priority is to deliver schemes which offer best value and keep driver disruption and impact on business to a minimum. Collectively they will alleviate traffic congestion, transform accessibility and drive economic growth in Dorset.”

Bournemouth Borough Council will be in charge of delivering the A338 schemes, working with Dorset county Council on the improvements at Blackwater Junction and Wessex Fields.

Dorset County Council is to deliver the improvements at Hurn Roundabout, Chapel Gate and Parley Cross.

The £45.2m BIG Programme is part of the £79m secured by the LEP through the governments Growth Deals.

The BIG Programme is intended to release up to 60 hectares of land for new businesses at Aviation Business Park.

Dorset LEP says it is the biggest employment opportunity in south east Dorset, with the potential to create up to 10,000 highly skilled jobs in the next decade and generate up to £500m in value for the economy.

It should also deliver around 350 homes, of which up to 50 would be classed as affordable.

Bournemouth Airport and Aviation Business Park would also gain better broadband and there would be a new approach to improving skills and developing staff to meet the needs of key business sectors.

The first tranche of money was released when then-deputy prime minister Nick Clegg visited Dorset in March 2015.